By Joseph A. Kamanda
Amidst wide spread of fake news and hate messages against the leader and chairman of main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party, former president Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, purporting that Koroma is critically ill is not true as being falsely perceived and circulated by the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) operatives.
A seemingly rebuttal to such lies by pro-opposition social media enthusiasts has landed some people behind bars in detention at the criminal investigation department on orders from the Office of Chief Minister, the absconded Bradford Prof. David John Francis and that of Ministry of Internal Affairs Deputy home secretary, failed lawyer Lahai Lawrence Leema for reasons best known to them.
The former president proved his hateful detractor wrong that he is indeed well and physically fit for any mental and physical activities that requires his personal strengths and energy, and therefore took a walk in and around the city of Makeni showing his high level wellness to the people, the country and the world at large. He has proved to them that he can be hardly killed by the wide spread of malicious lies hates and fake news about his poor health condition, nor does he dies the death of his enemies.
Authored by one cowardice and faceless Alusine Pen their ploy was cheap and weak to a point that it does not grab any attention, neither it worry any of the APC party members and supporters because the failed strategy is being devised by SLPP operatives to paint an ugly picture of the former president’s health status. It is scandalously purporting as if the APC leader and chairman is very much worried about the authorities publishing of his daughter’s said name on wanted list of suspects for the alleged murder of late journalist and Managing Editor of the New Age, Ibrahim Samura.
The former president is in a very sound and healthy status. He is physically fit for all his normal sporting games including squash and other recreational activities as seen in new media photos from his residential lodge in and around Makeni city. He went round reaching out to family members and well wishes to tell the world that he-former president Koroma is indeed well, fit and not sick as falsely reported by the ruling SLPP spin operatives on social media just to stir panics and fears amongst APC members and supporters across the globe. Former president Koroma exposed their lies and hates against him and the APC party to the whole world.
That formula had failed especially in popularizing SLPP spin operatives’ fake propaganda against the main opposition and former president Koroma. Considering government’s calculated twist to divert minds and attentions of the public from the very challenging health condition of president Julius Maada Bio, which SLPP members and their supporters should be worrying about, rather parading new media platforms with lies and vindictive fake news about well fit, strong, energetic, physically and mentally correct former president Koroma. Drag not life and death matters to political jokes, SLPP propaganda stooges it might be your turn one day when you may want no bad wishes against your leaders.
In fact, those named in the fallacious text and graphic image that were making rounds on the social media as sympathizers that gathered at the resident of the former president, were not in Makeni at the time of spreading the fake news, not to talk of their presence at the home of former president Koroma. The Makeni Mayor, madam Sunkarie Kamara is said to had travelled to the United Kingdom, while the APC Deputy Leader and Chairman, Hon. Minkailu Mansaray, Secretary General Alhaji Ambassador Dr Osman Foday Yansanneh were all at their various homes. A closed aide to former president Koroma said he is well, fit, always alert and set for his normal sporting drills.
Why would anyone want the former president die or even fall so critically ill, having served his people so diligently only to be paid back with revengeful rewards. Is that what former president Dr Ernest Bai Koroma deserves from this nation for people of detracts intents to wish him poor health and untimely death? God save Sierra Leone.
Hate from one Sierra Leonean against another pays nothing order than retrogression, like what we are presently going through, as imposed poverty, endemic corruption, nepotism, tribalism and regional ethnic segregations across the country, with the ill tendencies of bringing Sierra Leoneans down on their knees again if these societal tribulations are not addressed immediately as urgent means through judicious and fair allocations of national resources towards reunifying the people and the country as a whole once more.
The poor health wishes from the grand old party SLPP operatives against former president Koroma does not score any political points against the APC, nor the personality whose health condition ruling elites are trying to ridicule. Some are of the views that Koroma is so down by the alleged appearance of his daughter’s name on the witch hunts so-called wanted list of alleged murders of journalist Ibrahim Samura.
Whiles in office recent years ago, SLPP spinners similarly went all over the place and spread fake news that lied about the health condition of the president then, with intents to divert his focus and that of government from critical governance issues under the progressive implementations of the Agenda for Change and later the Agenda for Prosperity, but the then government nor former president Koroma pay little or no attention to those lies. That Koroma was then sick and went to India and they later claimed he went to Germany for medical checkups which were all lies, fake news, baseless and cheap propaganda while in fact Koroma never visit those countries for medical and health checks.
Misinformation didn’t kill Koroma and will not even attempt at disturbing him because he has no space to accommodate hates but went out of his ways to promote peace, love, national unity, religious and political tolerance to a point of even dinning and winning with his political opponents and enemies had he any. Most times he foot medical bills of certain members of the then opposition SLPP instead of wishing them poor health and premature deaths like they now want it for him. So why would people whom former president Koroma sheltered, clothed, loved, showed great care and concerns for have turned so quick to reward him with hates.
Unfortunately for him, Koroma’s generosity has not paid him much with immediate return from his country men and women. All he’s receiving from government and the ruling party are heartbreaking news of his appearance before the commissions of inquiry, the declaration of his daughter as fugitive for failure to turn herself into the police for alleged murder a journalist whose death was caused by blood pressure to name just the few trend of hate misinformation around the former president.
What needs to be made clear here is that even at his present age, Koroma is physically healthier than president Bio. You detractors and hateful critics need to prove that with a 100 meters run prove you will know who is stronger than the other from amongst the two people.
Judging from real time social media reports from his Makeni lodge, former president Koroma is shown in videos and still pictures actively performing exercises at his gym. Does critically ill person goes to a gym, take a walk in and around Makeni to reach out to as much people he could?
Certain ruling SLPP political operatives need to be telling lies with some amounts of credibility to maintain their God’s given respects if at all their jobs can’t offer them respectability anymore. In other words, people working for government must not be seen engaging themselves in cheap, destructive and hate propaganda against their political opponents for point scorings.
Therefore let each and every SLPP and APC member and supporter show or tell us what benefits have they get and will continue to get from spreading fakes news of the so-called poor health wishes of former president Koroma, and equally so reward any opposition members and supporters for wishing poor health condition for president Bio.
Does that really pays or will it continue expose Sierra Leoneans deep rooted hates for each other forgetting that Sierra Leone had long been sternly warned by late former president Alhaji Dr Ahmed Tejan Kabbah to love one another but we failed in those areas of oneness, cohesion and national unity, not to talk of learning from the harsh lesions from the ten years civil war.
For all the people know is that former president Koroma is very much healthy with sound condition and will not the death of his enemies’ plans who are always wishing him poor health and premature death, while well meaning Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad continues to pray for his general wellbeing and long life, whiles his foes will crumble to death.
